The structure of Venus’ middle atmosphere and ionosphere (original) (raw)

Nature volume 450, pages 657–660 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

The atmosphere and ionosphere of Venus have been studied in the past by spacecraft with remote sensing1,2,3,4 or in situ techniques3,4. These early missions, however, have left us with questions about, for example, the atmospheric structure in the transition region from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere (50–90 km) and the remarkably variable structure of the ionosphere. Observations become increasingly difficult within and below the global cloud deck (<50 km altitude), where strong absorption greatly limits the available investigative spectrum to a few infrared windows and the radio range. Here we report radio-sounding results from the first Venus Express Radio Science5 (VeRa) occultation season. We determine the fine structure in temperatures at upper cloud-deck altitudes, detect a distinct day–night temperature difference in the southern middle atmosphere, and track day-to-day changes in Venus’ ionosphere.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Svedhem, F. Jansen, the Project Science Team at ESTEC and the Flight Control Team at ESOC for continuous support. The German and the US part of VeRa are supported by DLR, Bonn-Oberkassel and by a contract with NASA, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung, Abt. Planetenforschung, Universität zu Köln, Aachener Strasse 201–209, 50931 Köln, Germany , Köln
    M. Pätzold & S. Tellmann
  2. Institut für Raumfahrttechnik, Universität der Bundeswehr München, 85577 Neubiberg, Germany
    B. Häusler, R. Mattei & W. Eidel
  3. Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany , Bonn
    M. K. Bird
  4. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA , California
    S. W. Asmar
  5. Observatoire Royal de Belgique, 3 Avenue Circulaire, 1180 Brussels, Belgium , Brussels
    V. Dehant
  6. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Sagamihara, Japan , Sagamihara
    T. Imamura
  7. Space, Telecommunications, and Radioscience Laboratory (MC 9515), Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4020, USA , California
    R. A. Simpson & G. L. Tyler

Authors

  1. M. Pätzold
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  2. B. Häusler
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  3. M. K. Bird
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  4. S. Tellmann
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  5. R. Mattei
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  6. S. W. Asmar
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  7. V. Dehant
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  8. W. Eidel
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  9. T. Imamura
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  10. R. A. Simpson
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  11. G. L. Tyler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence toM. Pätzold.

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Pätzold, M., Häusler, B., Bird, M. et al. The structure of Venus’ middle atmosphere and ionosphere.Nature 450, 657–660 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06239

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Editorial Summary

Still delivering

ESA's Venus Express probe has been in orbit since April 2006. Eight research papers in this issue present new results from the mission, covering the atmosphere, polar features, interactions with the solar wind and the controversial matter of venusian lightning. Håkan Svedham et al. open the section with a review of the similarities and (mostly) differences between Venus and its 'twin', the Earth. Andrew Ingersoll considers the latest results, and also how the project teams plan to make the most of the probe's remaining six years of life.